Dealing with stigma and how to overcome it.

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. Stigma is one of the things that can affect an individual's life greatly, and in most cases, if not handled properly, the impact it leaves on the individual is one that the individual will find very difficult to recover from. Sometimes people fail to understand that the moment you stigmatize an individual, you have left a mark on their emotions, their ego, and even their self-confidence is affected badly, and slowly they start to lose everything they ever believed in; people who are stigmatized always result in having low self-esteem.

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One of the major reasons people fail to seek help is so they will not be stigmatized; instead, they prefer to fight the battle in silence, and the end result of fighting a battle in silence is always bad, and before they finally decide to seek help, it is already too late. There are many people out there who are fighting silent battles and have decided not to seek professional help because they don't want to be stigmatized or for the work to know what they are battling with. There are many people battling depression and anxiety, but because they fear being stigmatized or suffering the isolation and treatment that comes with being stigmatized by the public, they hide it and do not seek help.

If only we as humans will learn to not judge people and stop the ill treatment, then the level of stigmatization will be reduced to the barest minimum, and people will be able to open up more and see the help that they need. Being stigmatized can leave you frustrated and lost, especially when the public starts to isolate you and doesn't want anything to do with you. It's funny how anyone can suffer stigmatization, whether kids or adults.

A friend's dad was posted to a new work station, and that required him to start a new school, which is where we met. The first day in school, there were whispers of fellow students that he was a smoker because of how dark his lips were. Even as a new student, they made it so obvious that they really did not want to go close, and the gossip and rumors kept flying. We got to class, the geography teacher walked in, and without even saying anything, the first question he asked the new boy was, "Why do you want to ruin your life at such a tender age?" The student looked lost, and before he could say anything, the teacher used his cane on him, saying he wants to deny being a smoker, and he kept whipping and saying, If you say the truth, I would let you go.

Such an experience on the first day at school, as a new student, he had already been seen as a smoker all because he has dark lips, and anywhere he passes, you can hear students talk about him, but we were able to become friends and get along easily because I once suffered the same thing, and to this day I still do; people just see you and conclude you are a smoker and treat you as one just because you have dark lips.

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Self-acceptance: You first have to accept yourself as you are as well as treat yourself before you start expecting the public to accept you and treat you how you want to be treated.

Communication: So many people are keeping things bottled up because of the fear of stigmatization, but the truth is the second step to overcoming any stigma is by opening up after you have accepted it.

Support from friends and loved ones will as well go a long way in helping one overcome a stigma, those encouraging words and not words that will break an individual's spirit.